Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations
Conservative politician Nikki Haley was was born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina, on January 20, 1972, to immigrant Indian-Sikh parents. On January 24, 2017, Haley succeeded Samantha Power to become Donald Trump’s pick for US Ambassador to the United Nations. Prior to her appointment to the UN, Ms. Haley served from 2011–2017 as Governor of South Carolina. Haley was not only the first female Governor of South Carolina but she was only the second Indian-American, after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal, to hold the position of governor in the United States. She graduated from Clemson University with a B.Sc in accounting.
At this point very little is known of her views on international issues but she has been public on a few issues thus far: She describes herself as “pro-life” and while governor, supported legislation to restrict abortion rights in her state, she has been a vocal ally of Israel, and she recently expressed to the U.N. Security Council that sanctions against Russia regarding the Crimean conflict will not be lifted until Russia returns control over Crimea to Ukraine. Read her January 18th Statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding her UN ambassadorship here.